Magpie River

The Magpie River attracted attention a few years back when Hydromega wanted to refurbish an existing dam structure just above highway 138. Vocal opposition from the paddling community in Canada as well as environmental groups was unable to stop this development, but fortunately for river travellers it has not affected the vast majority of the whitewater. There have been proposals by Hydro-Quebec in the past to develop the Magpie farther upstream, but nothing in the near future. In fact, there is proposals to create four biodiversity reserves in the Basse Cote Nord region. One of which includes the Magpie River from its headwaters. This is exciting since it could ensure the Magpie free of future hydro development. Here is a link to the english translation of the proposals.



http://www.bape.gouv.qc.ca/sections/rapports/publications/bape236_eng.pdf



A few years back some of us New England boaters did a trip on the Magpie. In fact, there were several groups from New England that year. The Magpie saw more Vermonters than it ever had in the past. It is one of those true classics. Our group flew into a lake that flows into the Magpie Nord-Ouest. (Can't remeber the name right now) Five days on the river, no bugs since it was september, and some great paddling. Here are some photos of the trip.

Sunrise after a chilly night

Misty Morning on the nord-ouest

Well, it got a little cold on the first night

Must have been a cold night

Portage!



Running the gorge after the portage

Ed paddling out of the gorge.

Scouting one of the many rapids on the nord-ouest

Trip showing how you boof if your from the southeast.

Ed on an early morning scout below camp 2

Brian on the Magpie Nord-Ouest

Ed, Boyce, and Brian somewhere in the middle of Lake Magpie

That's a long way to go in a Jefe

Cruising into camp for the night.

Early morning on Lake Magpie

The lake is finally behind us!!

......and then there was a river
Nice waves on the Magpie

Greg showing the young guys that the hole at the bottom is really some "sweet action" Boyce threading the needle
Out of the mist


Nice photo Beckwith


Brian somewhere on the lower Magpie, having fun


Justin contemplating the possibilities.

The first drop Justin fired up

The next one had a pretty big hole, but.....

This hole (hard to tell scale) was something else. Maybe the jedi-plug. It worked for the logs.

Justin and Fred portaging the gnar. The runout of this canyon is sweet whitewater.

Ed admiring Magpie Falls

.....and the concrete keeps pouring

Some Pictures of Another Incredible North Coast River

Enjoy these pictures of the Aguanus River. But please read on to learn about the plight of the Romaine River and find out what you can do to help safegaurd its future.

Some Pictures

Only a few days away from leaving for the Romaine. There is plenty of water right now. The gauge is around 250cms. It will probably slowly drop over the next week or so. Long range weather forecast for Havre-Saint-Peirre is fairly dry, but its always hard to tell what happens up on the plateau. We'll probably do one or two more updates before heading into the wilderness so stay tuned.

Camping on La Riviere Jacques Cartier
Lower half of 2nd Triple Drop at the perfect water level
BOOF!!!

The Rocher in Port Cartier is a fun roadside classic

Disappearing on the Rocher (ok its a bad photo taken about 2 seconds too late)

Putting in on the Malbaie

Joe Barkley firing off Chocolate Milk (Gatineau Falls) on the Malbaie

One of three photos taken on this high energy Taureau run. We were focused intently on the river that day.

More Outdated Pictures......

Well it seems that new photos attract more viewers. So, here are a handful of photos from a kayak trip a few years back. We were working on a documentary with filmaker Angus Yates in Russia. That site is http://www.boofingtheironcurtain.blogspot.com/. After helping Angus with the film, John, Jules, and I stayed another month and travelled to the Altai Mountains to do some great paddling with the Russians. What a wild bunch they are! I hope one day I can return and shoot some rapids and some vodka with Vasia, Oleg, The Doctor, Victor, Alex, Masha, Misha, and Antonio.

P.S. Remember we are trying to raise some cash money. Thankyou to our latest contributor of $5. That's all it it takes, a dollar here a dollar there!!

Chulycha River in Altai. Notice Vasia and Antonio in the bottom left.

Doctor on one of the many difficult rapids of the Chulycha.

Grace on the Khurkuria, a tributary of the amazing Chulyshman River.

Doctor showing how to do it Russian style. Hui-yaaaaak!

Vasia had the 1st descent on this gorge not long before he took us here. It was awesome.

Driving to the Karagem. We weren't following any roads, but some how made it to the river.

Argut and Karagem confluence. After 2 days we still had 4 more to go and some sweet action.

Of course we saw catarafters in the middle of nowhere. It is the Russian national past time.

Oleg navigating one of the more complex rapids on the Argut.

Victor "the man who forged us work visas so we could stay for three months" hiking into the Chulyshman. A true Altai classic.

Submitting An Opinion of the Romaine Complex

How to submit an opinion of the Romaine Complex-

The Bureau of Public Audiences in Quebec has a guideline for submitting opinions. It is outlined below from the BAPE website and can be e-mailed to romaine@bape.gouv.qc.ca They would prefer word or pdf attachments.

Title of Opinion (The Romaine Complex is not a feasible option for the Romaine River, for example)
Introduce yourself (my name is, I am a kayaker, river enthusiast, or representing....)

The memory will be made public and distributed at the hearing and on the BAPE website. Therefore it is important to use only personal information that could affect you and is relevant to the arguments in the opinion.

Provide your address and phone number on a separate page. This is how the BAPE can confirm the link between the opinion and its author. A memorandum sent without this information may not be considered. This info is on a separate page to ensure the author's confidentiality.

The submission must be prepared in compliance with the other participants. It does not include intentionally prejudice opinions that reflect on the dignity, honor, reputation, or privacy of individuals.

If the memory is large, it is suggested to accompany a one-page summary.

Some suggestions for writing the opinion are as follows-
Why are you interested in this project?
What influence does this have on the environment or your quality of life?
Is there a way to understand this project from both sides of the issues in your opinion? Why?
Is the proposed project the best solution that would have the least negative impacts on the environment, considering other alternatives? Why?
In your opinion, are there elements of this project which should be changed?
Which ones and how?
In your opinion, should this project be allowed? Why?
Do you have any other suggestions?

November 27th is the deadline for submitting opinions by e-mail. The hearing begins December 1st.

Public Hearing For The Romaine Complex Has Begun

The public hearing for the Romaine Hydro Project began last night in Havre-Saint-Pierre. There has been no mention of video confrencing to allow people from around Quebec to participate and voice thier opinions about the project. BAPE has an audio broadcast of the hearings on their web page about the public hearing.
http://www.bape.gouv.qc.ca/sections/mandats/La%20Romaine/index.htm

More importantly it is possible to submit questions to the review panel via e-mail until Novemember 7th, 2008.
**Important**
This first part of the public hearing is intended to complement information about the project. Opinions about the project will be voiced in the coming weeks. As a paddler I would recommend asking whether or not they have considered maintaining the Romaine as a challenging canoe and kayak route. Will the rapids, falls, portages, and campsites be maintained? Are there any plans to do such? Hydro Quebec has taken into consideration how they will manage the impact to snowmobile travel on the river in winter, but not to canoe and kayak travel during the late spring, summer, and fall. Submit questions here-
This is the english translated link-
http://74.125.93.104/translate_c?hl=en&sl=fr&tl=en&u=http://www.bape.gouv.qc.ca/sections/mandats/La%2520Romaine/participer/formulaire-La_Romaine.htm&usg=ALkJrhjEKsb5g8MH_9JRMi4lBrSBAMJW6g

The original link-
http://www.bape.gouv.qc.ca/sections/mandats/La%20Romaine/participer/formulaire-La_Romaine.htm

or they can be e-mailed to questions@bape.gouv.qc.ca

More Information on the Romaine Complex

This is a good link for learning more about the Romaine Complex. It works well to translate the webpages using the Google Language Tools.

http://www.hydroquebec.com/romaine/index.html

Romaine River

Article published in Rutland Herald on the Romaine River. Vermonter's will face choices for maintaining a green energy portfolio in the near future. Will the state continue to live in denial of their footprint that is firmly stamped in the wilderness of Quebec?

link to article-
http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081012/ENVIRONMENT/810120394/1033/ENVIRONMENT

Letter to Minister of Sustainable Development Quebec

From Alliance Romaine-

Please take a moment to help the Romaine River by sending a letter to the Minister of Sustainable Development, the Environment and Parks in Quebec. Currently, the public audiences, which provide an opportunity for people to comment and ask questions regarding Hydro Quebec's plans to build four dams on the Romaine River, will only be held in Havre Saint Pierre. As a result, few opponents to the project and few journalists will be present at the public audiences.
We are asking that the public be able to participate via video conferencing in Montreal and Quebec City. We need to show the Minister that there is enough interest regarding this project outside of Havre St Pierre. Please take a moment to download the letter attached, type in your signature and email it(romaine@bape.gouv.qc.ca) or mail it to the Ministry. This is incredibly important. If we can not be present in large numbers at these meetings, the ministry will conclude that there is no opposition.
The letter attached is written in French. For those of you who do not speak French, the letter reminds the Minister that a project of this scale effects people beyond Havre St Pierre. Additionally, under provincial law, people have a right to participate in public audiences. By conducting the meetings in a remote area, the Ministry is limiting people's opportunity to participate.
The meetings are scheduled to start on October 27th, please do not delay, send this letter today!
Thank you for participating in our efforts to prevent the damming ofthe Romaine River, one of Quebec's last untouched rivers.

Here is the letter in french. An english translation is below. Copy and paste it with your name typed at the bottom and send it to romaine@bape.gouv.qc.ca


Octobre 2008

Madame Line Beauchamp,
Ministre du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et des Parcs,
Édifice Marie-Guyart, 30e étage
675, boulevard René-Lévesque Est
Québec, Québec
G1R 5V7


OBJET : DEMANDE D’ACCÈS INTERACTIF À PARTIR DE MONTRÉAL ET QUÉBEC À L’AUDIENCE PUBLIQUE CONCERNANT LE PROJET D’AMÉNAGEMENT HYDROÉLECTRIQUE DE LA ROMAINE.


Madame la Ministre,


Votre gouvernement a déposé un projet de loi qui reconnaît l’eau comme un patrimoine collectif de la nation québécoise. L’eau de la Romaine ne fait pas exception et c’est à la population du Québec qu’il appartient de décider de son avenir et de sa protection, non à quelques représentants de groupes d’intérêts locaux, aussi bien intentionnés soient-ils. Nous voulons donc que le plus grand nombre possible de résidents du Québec puissent y participer. Les audiences se tenant exclusivement à Havre-St-Pierre, la distance, les coûts et le temps nécessaires pour s’y rendre constituent d’importants freins à la participation. En ce moment, le BAPE offre pour la période de question une Web diffusion en mode audio seulement qui empêche d’avoir une véritable participation publique. En conséquence, nous demandons, par le biais de vidéoconférences ou tout autre moyen technique, d’avoir la possibilité d’interagir directement pendant la période de questions et celle d’expression des opinions. Nous vous rappelons que la participation publique est un principe fondamental qui apparaît à la Loi sur développement durable et qui doit guider l’administration de l’État. Nous comptons donc sur vous pour prendre les moyens favorisant cette participation. Ces audiences devant débuter le 27 octobre 2008, nous vous demandons d’agir avec diligence.


En vous remerciant,
YOUR NAME HERE

English Version-

Madame Line Beauchamp,
Ministre du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et des Parcs,
Édifice Marie-Guyart, 30e étage
675, boulevard René-Lévesque Est
Québec, Québec
G1R 5V7

SUBJECT: REQUEST FOR INTERACTIVE ACCESS FROM MONTREAL AND QUEBEC CITY FOR THE PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE DRAFT OF THE ROMAINE COMPLEX

Your government has introduced a bill that recognizes water as a collective heritage of the Quebec nation. Water from the Romaine is no exception and it is for the people of Quebec to decide its future and its protection, not a few representatives from local interest groups, however well-intentioned they may be. We therefore want the largest possible number of Quebec residents to participate. The hearings held exclusively in Havre-St-Pierre exclude many people because of the distance, cost and time required to travel there. Right now, the BAPE bid for the question period as an audio web-broadcast prevents interested parties from having a true public participation. Accordingly, we ask that through video-conferencing or other technical means, to have the opportunity to interact directly during Question Period and express our opinion. We remind you that public participation is a fundamental principle of sustainable development laws, which must guide the administration of the Quebec. We are counting on you to take this means of promoting participation. These hearings are scheduled to begin on 27 October 2008, we urge you to act expeditiously.

Sincerely,
YOUR NAME HERE